Wolf and Fox
by Morgan A. Russell
Summary: HP Marauder fanfic; a rather different sort of love story.
1. The First Day

Wolf and Fox  
  
It was the first day of term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Remus   
Lupin was nervous.  
  
At fourteen years old, he had attended the school for the past three terms, and had   
absolutely loved it. He had made his first real friends there-- Sirius Black, Peter   
Pettigrew, and James Potter. In fact, Remus was sitting with them at that very moment at   
the start-of-term feast.  
  
But a new school year meant more opportunities for Remus's secret to be discovered; you   
see, Remus Lupin was a werewolf.  
  
He had received the bite when he was only four years old, and it had been the bane of his   
existence ever since. There were very few people who trusted werewolvs, and so Remus   
and his parents had been shunned by other witches and wizards for quite some time. Shy   
and withdrawn, always afraid that no one would like him if they found out what he was,   
Remus had trouble making friends and getting attached. The Lupins hadn't thought   
Remus would even be able to attend Hogwarts, but a year before Remus was old enough   
to receive his acceptance letter a man named Albus Dumbledore became headmaster of the   
school, and he had told them that, with a few precautions, there was no reason Remus   
shouldn't attend.  
  
And so Remus had spent the past three school years at Hogwarts, and it had been   
wonderful, but every day he was there the fear that someone would find out what he was   
nagged insistently at the back of his mind.  
  
Sirius and James, who were best friends, had figured Remus out their first year, being   
exceptionally clever, and Remus had told them they could let Peter in on the secret, too.   
He trusted the three of them, but what if they accidentally let it slip one day? What if   
another student saw him on his way to the house that had been built outside the   
schoolgrounds for Remus's use during his transformations?  
  
For now, though, no one knew except for Professor Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, the   
school nurse, and of course his three friends. There was a plate brimming with delicious   
food and a frosty mug full of cider in front of him, he was sitting with his friends, and so   
Remus pushed his nervousness to the very back of his mind and decided just to enjoy   
himself.  
  
"I wonder what our new classes will be like," he said to Peter.  
  
"Dunno," Peter answered, swallowing a mouthful of shepherd's pie, "but I hope they're   
good."  
  
"I, personally, am very much looking forward to Muggle Studies," Sirius declared. James   
snorted.  
  
"You are?"  
  
"Yeah," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair, "it's the first time they're offering this class,   
so it's what you'd call an historic event." He said seriously. James, Remus, and Peter   
gazed at him with identical expressions of skepticism.  
  
"Besides," he added, a mischevious grin spreading over his face, "I hear the teacher's a   
real sucker. Falls for every practical joke you can hit 'im with."  
  
The other boys laughed. Sirius, along with James, was a notorious prankster.  
  
"Hey," Peter piped, "I wonder who the new Divination teacher is?"  
  
Remus looked up at the staff table. They knew Professor Arcanum had left, as she had   
announced at the end of last year that "the Fates" had informed her she should go to   
Morocco to study the Sufis. So when Remus glanced at the Divination teacher's seat, he   
didn't expect to see Professor Arcanum, but he didn't expect not to see anyone, either.  
  
"Where is she?" James wondered.  
  
"Why do you assume it's a woman?" Remus asked.  
  
"Divination strikes me as a field that doesn't attract many males," James said, and Remus   
laughed.  
  
"I suppose you're right," he responded.  
  
The four friends finished their dinners and retired to their familiar dormitory, which now   
had a plaque on the door reading "Fourth Years."  
  
***  
  
Late that evening, long after the last stragglers at the feast had gone off to bed, a young   
woman entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts, a trunk and several covered cages floating   
magically behind her.  
  
"Oh, drat," she said, looking around the deserted hall, "I haven't the slightest idea of   
where to go now."  
  
She looked down at the orange tabby kitten she was cradling in one arm.  
  
"What do you think, Terry?" she whispered. The cat blinked at her sleepily and began to   
purr. The woman smiled.  
  
"You're no help at all, are you? I suppose I had better go find Professor Dumbledore."  
  
She turned back to face the enormous marble stairway leading to the rest of the castle and   
pointed her wand over her shoulder at her luggage.  
  
"Let's go," she whispered, and marched up the stairs.  



	2. Breakfast

**Author's Note:   
  
Quick disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, obviously, I do not own any sort of "Harry Potter"-related indicia or whatever it is, nor do I own any of these characters, except hopefully Xanthe as she's my invention. This is why it's fan fiction, people. Much of this particular story is based on a few RPG's I'm in, so I have to thank all my fellow members for the use of their characters. Also, please note that this has CHAPTERS, and you have to KEEP READING IT to understand why it's a different sort of love story. Thank you for your time, and I appreciate all the r/r's.**  
  
The young woman, with her entourage of luggage, made her way skillfully through the many twists and turns of Hogwarts' halls, until she arrived at an unmarked door.  
  
"Of course," she muttered to herself, "I don't know the password…"  
  
But as she stood there, deciding what to do next, the door slid open to reveal a staircase whose stairs were moving upwards, much like a muggle escalator.  
  
"Ah," the woman said sagely, and stepped onto the stairs, her cases behind her. At the top of the stairs was another door, which she opened without bothering to knock.  
  
It was an unusual room she stepped into, spacious and round, the walls lined with portraits of men and women that were moving of their own accord. Most seemed to be asleep, some wearing nightcaps or curlers, and others were talking quietly to each other. In the center of the room was a humongous desk, behind which sat a rather elderly wizard, with long white hair and a long white beard, square glasses perched on the bridge of a slightly crooked nose, and intense, twinkling blue eyes.  
  
He rose from his seat as the young lady entered and took her hands, embracing her warmly.  
  
"Xanthe," he said, "wonderful to see you again."  
  
"Not as wonderful as it is to see you, Professor Dumbledore," the woman named Xanthe replied. "I was afraid I'd be stuck sleeping in the Great Hall tonight, but I should have known you'd be watching to see when I got here."  
  
"Indeed," Professor Dumbledore smiled. "Let me show you to your office so you can get settled in, eh?"  
  
"Excellent," Xanthe said, indicating the cages behind her, "the beasts, unfortunately, are none too fond of traveling."  
  
"We will waste no more time here, then," Professor Dumbledore said amiably, ushering her out.  
  
They took the stairs down to the hall, then all the way across the castle to the foot of the North Tower.  
  
"Your classroom, of course, is up there," Professor Dumbledore said, pointing to the spiral staircase that led to the Divination classroom, "but your office and quarters will be through here."  
  
He gestured to the wall they were standing next to; there was a large tapestry depicting a unicorn hunt covering most of it.  
  
The headmaster scratched the chin of the unicorn, which whinnied and stamped, then lifted a corner of the tapestry to reveal an ornately carved door.  
  
He unlocked it with a key produced from somewhere in his robes, then led Xanthe into a snug, wood-paneled room.  
  
"I trust this will be sufficient?" Professor Dumbledore asked.   
  
"Oh, yes," Xanthe answered, smiling warmly. "It's perfect."  
  
"Then," the headmaster said, "if you've no further questions I will leave you to unpack and, if you can, get some sleep. Are you very nervous about tomorrow?"  
  
"No," Xanthe said confidently. "I have a feeling everything will go very smoothly."  
  
Professor Dumbledore smiled knowingly.   
  
"I am sure you're right, Professor Shannon," he replied.   
  
Xanthe looked around the room, then back at Dumbledore.  
  
"It's good to be back," she said.  
  
  
Remus awoke to Sirius's suddenly huge face peering down at him. Yelping, he rolled over and sat up.   
  
"What? What?" He cried sleepily.  
  
Sirius had been tapping him on the face.  
  
"Let's go," Sirius said impatiently. "We'll be late for breakfast. I am starving!"  
  
"Figures," snorted James, who was standing with Peter by the door, fully dressed.  
  
"All right, fine," Remus said, rubbing his eyes. "Just give me a minute, will you?"  
  
"Hurry up!" Sirius yelled, throwing Remus's robes at him as he rushed to wash and dress.  
  
Within five minutes the four friends were seated together at the Gryffindor table in the dining hall. They were comparatively early, so there weren't many students or teachers about yet.  
  
"Still no Divination teacher, eh?" Sirius asked, glancing at the staff table.  
  
"Maybe she's just not down yet," Peter replied. "Professor Dumbledore isn't even here yet."  
  
"Meh," Sirius said, by way of dismissing the subject.   
  
"Hey," a girl's voice called from the entrance to the hall, "I hope you saved us seats!"   
  
It was Lily Evans who had spoken, a fellow fourth-year Gryffindor. She was walking towards them with her best friend, Arabella Figg.  
  
They seated themselves near the boys.   
  
"Have you seen the new Divination teacher yet?" Lily asked.  
  
"Nope," Sirius answered, "but we were just talking about her."   
  
By this time the hall had filled up, and finally Professor Dumbledore arrived to begin breakfast.   
  
"Still not here," Remus said softly. "I wonder if we've got one at all?"   
  
But a platter of bacon, fried eggs, and sausages was beckoning, and refused to be ignored. Despite the huge feast last night, they were all hungry again.  
  
"It would be fabulous," Sirius said about halfway through the meal, his mouth full of waffle, "if the new Divination teacher wasn't at any of the meals because she's a ghost and can't eat."  
  
"Nah," James said thoughtfully. "We've already got Professor Binns; he's a ghost, and he's no fun at all."  
  
"I don't think she's a ghost," Arabella said slowly.   
  
"Why?" Remus asked, and followed Arabella's eyes to the staff table.  
  
The jaws of the four boys dropped open simultaneously.   
  
Rushing to her place in the Divination teacher's seat was a young woman-barely older than the seventh years, it seemed-with long, softly curling golden hair, alabaster skin with gently flushed cheeks, ruby lips…   
  
"Wow," James murmured.   
  
"Oh, my," said Remus.  
  
Peter had oatmeal trickling out of the corner of his mouth.   
  
Sirius's eyes had nearly popped out of his head.  
  
Lily snorted, and Arabella rolled her eyes.  
  
At that moment, Professor Dumbledore stood up and raised his hands for silence.  
  
"Forgive me for interrupting your breakfasts," he said, "but as I mentioned last night our new Divination teacher would be arriving late. Gladly, she is here at last, and so I now have the great pleasure of introducing to you Hogwarts alumna Xanthe Shannon, Professor of Divination."  
  
There was a round of applause for the young lady, who blushed and smiled widely, and a series of hoots from some of the boys, Sirius included. Lily threw a crust of toast at him, but he ignored it and proceeded to wolf down the rest of his meal.  
  
"Come on," he said, goading his friends on, "let's get going! I want to get out of here early."  
  
"Why?" Peter asked.  
"So he can be early for Divination, of course," Lily said wryly, adding, "Men."  
  
  



End file.
